Flicks

The Teacher

(Ucitelka)(2016)

A teacher comes under fire for allegedly using her students to manipulate their parents in this Slovak-Czech drama from Oscar-nominated director Jan Hrebejk (Divided We Fall).... More

"The early 1980s, Czechoslovakia. The principal of an elementary school calls a special parents meeting. Allegations have been made against a seemingly empathetic, kind, and amiable-looking teacher named Mrs. Drazděchová (Zuzana Mauréry), claiming that she uses her students to manipulate their parents into providing her with minor handyman assistance, unearned material comforts, and even a love affair. Will any of the families oppose the unscrupulous teacher or will her unwritten system continue to hold sway?

"The picture can be read as a bold contribution to the debate about the monstrosities that warped Czechoslovak society in the Normalization era, or about the post-revolution period, tainted by communism, that allowed the mechanisms of the past to take firm root. But the story, of course, has a universal application – the corrosive force of power, corruption, and human calculation hardly respects the limitations of time and space." (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)Hide

"The Teacher" benefits not only from filmmakers who join a multifaceted understanding of human nature with a fastidious control of technique and style, but also from being set in a particular time and place.Full Review